Female Intuition
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: Sue's missing female company, especially given the situation. But with no girls around, will Johnny, Reed and Ben substitute for the girly talk she so desperately needs? SueReed romance, lots of humour. Rated for one use of language
1. Chapter 1

"And then we went back to her place and…"

Sue groaned, resisting the urge to bang her head against the hard kitchen surface in front of her, and instead settling on adding an extra spoonful of sugar to her coffee. It had been a long few days, and whilst this story might have been the icing on the cake for her brother, she was still waiting for her cake, let alone the icing. Four days ago, the Fantastic Four had been completely established as heroes due to their public defeat of Victor von Doom. Since then, everything had been thrown into the air with more chaos than there had been when they were trying to keep their powers under wraps and in control.

"Johnny, can you just shut up, just for ten seconds?" She asked him tiredly.

She didn't have to look over her shoulder to see the grumpy expression forming on her brother's face, but it was there all the same. He hated having his stories interrupted, especially stories that made him out to look more successful than everyone else. "Just trying to tell a story." He mumbled loudly, glaring at the back of her head.

His glare stopped when she turned around, coffee mug in hand, and went to sit at the table. She chose a seat between Reed and Ben, putting her directly opposite the younger brother she had been snapping at all morning. "Well, I could really do without hearing about your love life." She told him sharply.

He smirked at her. "Jealous?"

"Shut up." She snapped back.

Finally, after too many hits, Johnny broke. "God, what's the matter with you today?" He complained dramatically. "You've told me to shut up more times than you usually do in a week, and we've only been up for ten minutes."

"She's missing female companionship." Ben explained over his coffee, which was in more of a bucket than a glass.

"What? "Johnny asked, as if Ben were taking some illegal substance.

"How do you know that?" Reed asked, also slightly curious about her mood.

"Yes, Ben, how _do _you know that?" Sue questioned, rather irritated that her mood had become the main breakfast discussion.

"Am I right?" Ben asked simply, looking directly at Sue.

Sue, however, laughed, drinking her coffee as if it were her reason for living. "That's ridiculous."

"But, am I right?" He repeated.

"Why does she need girlfriends?" Johnny asked, before Sue could deny it for a second time. "She's got us."

"That's exactly _why_." Ben told him.

Johnny frowned. "I don't get you."

Ben sighed, rolling his eyes. "She's living in the same place as her brother, and old friend whose ex-fiancée used to be one of her best friends, and her ex-boyfriend. Not to mention all that engagement crap with Victor…"

Reed, who had been drinking at the time, spluttered and choked on his coffee. A great deal of it ended up on the table before him, but he paid no attention to it. Wide eyed, he looked at Sue. "_Engagement_?!"

"There was no engagement." Sue explained tiredly.

"He _proposed _to you?!" Reed continued, clearly more traumatised by the whole idea than Sue had been at the time.

"Yeah, up in space, you didn't know about that?" Johnny piped up casually, shovelling more bacon into his mouth.

"_No_!" Reed cried out.

"Don't worry, he only did it to spite you." Sue assured him, patting his arm for a moment.

"But he _proposed_ to you!"

"And clearly, I said no." She pointed out.

Johnny laughed to himself. "Man, no wonder he was so pissed off with the two of you."

"My point is…" Ben said loudly, getting their attention again. "Susie's not had a good female vent since all of that happened."

"Vent?" Reed asked.

Sue laughed again. "Okay, now you're just being stupid."

"Just vent, Susie, you'll feel better." Ben coaxed her.

She continued laughing, getting to her feet. "Okay. I'm leaving now." She told them. However, when she reached the kitchen door, she turned back, going to the table once again to rescue her coffee from where Johnny had been eyeing it invitingly. "And I'm taking this with me." She added, before leaving completely.

As soon as she was gone, Reed started up on his rant again. "He proposed to her!"

"Yeah." Johnny said, laughing at how much it was annoying him.

"I can't _believe _him!"

"_I_ can't believe she said no." Johnny mused. Ben and Reed glared at him. "What? Just for the financial benefits." He added innocently.

Ben shook his head. "We've got to help her." He decided.

Johnny waved the idea off, taking the remainder of Sue's breakfast onto his own plate now it was clear that she wasn't coming back. "She's fine, just leave her to it." He told them. "She'll have a girly pamper thing and then she'll be fine."

Reed, however, had completely ignored Johnny's contribution. "What do we do?" He asked Ben.

"Well, do you guys know any of her girlfriends?" Ben asked, looking between the two.

"Other than Debbie? Reed asked, after realising that the shared list of friends between him and Sue hadn't been big to begin with, and had disappeared altogether when they had broken up.

Debbie, of course, was off limits. No one wanted to see Ben and Debbie in the same room again because of what it had done to Ben last time. "That's a no." Ben said instantly. "Johnny?"

He shook his head. "Trust me, the only ones I know are ones that are going to think I'm calling them way too late for all the wrong reasons."

"Right." Ben decided. "We'll just have to make do with what we've got then."

"Which is…?"

"Well, us." Ben shrugged.

"And what, exactly, are we doing?" Reed asked.

"Helping her vent." Ben revealed.

"How?" Johnny asked. Everyone fell into silence, which was all it took for Johnny to realise what Ben had in mind. "No." He said quickly, horror dawning on his face. "Oh, no. No. No. No."

"Come on, Johnny, she's your sister!" Ben pointed out.

"I don't care. I'm not doing it." He insisted.

"You mean…?" Reed said slowly.

"I mean, we get chocolate, coffee, chick flicks…and then we make her vent." Ben said.

Reed took this idea on board a lot easier than Johnny did. "Sounds easy enough."

"Easy? Are you kidding?" Johnny complained.

"No." They both said simply.

"Tell me you're kidding."

"We have to do this." Ben told him.

"Oh, no, we don't." Johnny said, now kicking up as much fuss as Reed had done about the proposal from Victor.

"Don't you want to help your sister?" Ben tested him.

Johnny shook his head. "Not if it means becoming a chick for the day."

"Come on, Johnny…" Reed tried to coax him.

This time, Johnny rounded on Reed. "Why are you so eager to listen to her talk about Victor?" He asked him.

"Because I'm pretty sure nothing she says about him will be good, and it will make up for the fact that no one bothered to tell me that he proposed to her."

"We'll need chocolate." Ben said, before the two could get into a real argument about Sue and romantic relationships.

"She left a bar in the refridgerator." Reed remembered.

"No…a big bar." Ben pointed out.

"I'll go to the store." Reed said, pushing out his chair.

"No, It's okay. I'll go." Johnny said, overly-generous as he quickly jumped out of his chair.

"No!" The other two said quickly.

"Why not?"

"Because if we let you leave, you won't come back." Reed pointed out.

Plan foiled, Johnny tried another attempt. "Well, don't let Reed go!" He said to Ben. "What does he know about woman and chocolate?"

Reed raised and eyebrow at him. "I dated your sister for four years, and I made a lot of mistakes in that time." He explained. "Chocolates are my specialty."

"I'll go with you then." Johnny offered.

"No!" Ben cried again. Whilst he would stay behind to argue, Reed quickly made his exit. "You'll stay here and help me." Ben ordered him.

"Help you what?"

"Pick the movie."

When Reed returned around thirty minutes later, Ben met him in the hall. "Got it?" He asked.

Reed opened up the bag he was holding, inviting Ben to look inside. "Biggest bar I could find, and a tub of mint ice cream."

Ben's eyebrows shot to the sky, rather impressed. "Whoa, this really is your specialty."

"Don't question the ex." Reed reminded him. "What movie did you guys pick?"

"Love Story." Ben said, nudging his thumb to the box that Johnny was holding.

"Nice choice." Reed complimented.

"But she dies at the end." Johnny pointed out.

"Making Susie feel better about herself." Ben explained.

Johnny frowned, clearly confused. "Because she's alive?"

Ben clapped him on the shoulder; something that Johnny wasn't ready to admit now hurt a lot more than when he used to do it. "See, now you're catching on."

Johnny groaned, looking to the sky for rescue for a moment, and then groaning again as the other two men walked past him, and he followed them. "You guys are worse than she is."

Outside of Sue's room, it had dawned on them that they didn't exactly plan on how they were going to get her to listen to them long enough to get into her bedroom. The door wasn't locked, but barging in, chocolate blazing, wasn't a good attempt.

"Come on, Susie…" Ben tempted.

"Honestly, Ben, I'm fine." Sue assured him from the other side of the door.

"You can talk to us." Ben pointed out.

"I appreciate that, but I don't need to talk, thank you."

"But-"

"Thank you, but I'm fine."

Ben went to speak again, but Reed held out a hand. "Stand aside, let the master work." He stepped right up to the door, speaking through it. "Sue, just hear us out, okay? We've got Love Story, chocolate, and ice cream. You want to open the door?"

There was silence, the shuffling of feet, and then the door creaked open a fraction, revealing Sue's scrutinising eyes. "Mint ice cream?" She tested.

Reed nodded. "Of course."

There was another silence…and then…

"…maybe I do need to talk a little."


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so glad you all liked the first chapter! Please review this chapter...unfortunately this is only a 3 chapter story, so here's the lovely middle part with girly-talk, teasing, Victor-bashing, and most importantly...ice cream and fluff!**

**Chapter 2:**

After Sue had opened the door, the group filed in. Or rather, Reed and Ben entered one after the other, and Ben then doubled back to drag Johnny in after them. Inside, Sue went over and sat in the centre of her double bed, and the rest of them all sat around her on the bed, effectively closing her in on the mattress so that she couldn't make a break for it. Reed handed her the shopping back.

"Here you go." He told her brightly. "Dig in."

She took the bag unsurely, looking in it tentatively before her eyes widened. "All of this is for me?"

"Absolutely." Reed nodded.

"Are you _trying_ to make me fat?" She asked him incredulously.

"If it'll make you happier, yes."

Johnny laughed at Reed's answer, picking at a stray thread on the duvet cover. "Oh, come on, this is Sue." He pointed out. "The only way she'll be fat _and _happy is if she's having Reed's baby."

There was a silence. An uncomfortable silence. A silence in which Ben glared at Johnny with more intensity than he had ever done in his life. "You know, it can be arranged that you're silent for all of this." Ben warned him.

"It can be arranged that the two of you do this on your own." Johnny argued back.

"Alright, what's really going on here?" Sue asked, breaking into their argument.

"Apparently, we've got to be girls for the day." Johnny complained.

"What?" Sue laughed.

"The plan is to make you feel better." Ben elaborated. "And we're going to do whatver it takes to make that happen."

"I still say we lock her and Reed in a room together." Johnny suggested. "That'll make them both feel better, and it'll get all of the tension out of the way."

"What tension?" Reed defended.

"There's no tension." Sue insisted.

"_Sure_, there's not." Johnny smirked sarcastically.

Ben glared at him again. "Are you just _trying _to be annoying so that we'll ask you to leave?"

"Is it working?"

Sue rolled her eyes. "Guys, I came in here to get _away _from you all arguing." She revealed.

Reed leaned forward a little. "Look, Sue, we just don't like seeing you so worked up and angry like this." He told her gently.

"I really am okay, you know." She assured him.

But Reed held her gaze. "You don't have to lie to me, Sue." He spoke softly. "It doesn't work, anyway."

Sue returned his gaze for a moment, and with the intensity of the stare they shared, she phased out of visibility for a moment. When she noticed, it dawned on her that perhaps getting everything off of her chest would be a good idea, and she shimmered back into view. "Okay." She surrendered.

"Breakthrough!" Ben smiled triumphantly.

"I've had a lot on my mind recently," She admitted, "but it's really nothing that the rest of you need to be concerned about."

"Well, Reed is still very much concerned about Victor proposing to you." Ben revealed, taking the lid off of the ice cream tub and handing it to her along with a spoon. "So, why don't we start there?"

Sue laughed to herself, accepting the ice cream. "You guys are crazy."

"Just spill the goods, Susie. Why did he propose to you?" Ben told her.

"I told you, he just wanted to get one over on Reed." She explained.

"So, the two years of longing looks meant _nothing_?" Johnny queried.

"Longing looks?" Reed asked, his previous panic returning.

"His, not mine." Sue assured him.

"Oh." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"He told me to think of it as a business promotion." Sue told them all, sounding disgusted. "How is a girl supposed to get all flustered and happy when a guy calls it a _promotion_? It's hardly romantic."

"So, she wants romance." Johnny dictated. "Take notes, Reed."

"Will you shut up?" Reed complained.

"Besides," Sue continued. "He didn't actually get a chance to ask me."

"He didn't?" Johnny asked.

"No. He dragged it out too long, and said that it was just four words that would change my life forever, and then Reed came in talking about the cloud." Sue told them.

Reed raised his eyebrows. "Wow, Victor was right."

Ben looked at him strangely. "Okay, I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"No, think about it." Reed told them. "I came in and said 'the cloud is accelerating'. Four words that changed Sue's life forever."

"Yeah, but I think that she was hoping for something along the lines of 'will you marry me'?" Johnny pointed out.

"I would have said 'no', anyway." Sue said simply, having more ice cream.

"Are you crazy?" Johnny asked her.

Ben looked at him again. "You do remember that he tried to kill us all, right?"

"Yeah, but the guy was loaded." Johnny pointed out.

"Victor didn't want me for who I was." Sue said bitterly. "He just wanted me because I was the one woman he couldn't have. It was just so that he would look more successful with a trophy blonde hanging off his arm at all his parties."

"And that's bad?"

Sue gave him a withering stare. "Yes, Johnny, that's bad."

"So, the whole two years there was no…relationship with you and Victor?" Reed checked.

Sue looked horrified. "Oh, God no!"

"Oh, thank God!" Reed cried out with relief.

Johnny watched with amusement. "Why, Reed…so relieved." He teased.

Ben nodded, understanding completely. "It's not good for a man's ego when a woman goes from him to Victor von Doom."

Reed frowned. "This has nothing to do with my ego." He insisted.

"You still would have stamped your feet if you found out that Sue was dating Victor though." Johnny pointed out.

"Yes, but that was because Victor's always done better at everything apart from…" He trailed off, realising that he was getting into dangerous territory.

"From what?" Ben asked.

"Nothing." Reed said, blushing a little and looking away from them all.

Johnny grabbed a spare spoon and helped himself to some of the ice cream. "No, tell us." He insisted.

"It's honestly nothing." Reed babbled.

"Hey, if I don't get to do secrecy today, neither do you." Sue told him.

Reed looked at her, and then looked away again, his gaze focused on the decorative pillows Sue had brought over from her apartment rather than looking at any of the others. "Victor's always been one step ahead of me." He revealed. "When it came to theories, he wasn't afraid to present his ideas and he knew people who could endorse them. With his money, he invested in all the right companies until his own was the top of the list. Even when it came to the powers we were given, it took the four of us to defeat him. I just…I know that it was my fault that I lost Sue, and that was bad enough, but losing her to Victor would have been so much worse than losing money or my theories, because I know that Victor probably would have taken care of her better than I could have done anyway." Reed said quietly.

There was a small silence after he finished speaking. Ben and Johnny were too busy watching Sue, to see how she would react. However, instead of speaking, she reached out for one of the extra spoons, and then held it out to him, attracting his gaze.

"Have some ice cream." She told him. "It helps."

Reed smiled at her, having a spoonful of the mint ice cream. Johnny looked confused. "I thought this was meant to be revealing Sue's innermost secrets?"

"That wasn't a secret." Reed covered up.

Sue smiled at him though. "Reed, you're blushing."

Blushing harder, he started to stammer. "I…uh…"

"Don't worry." She assured him. "If it came to choosing between you and Victor, you'd win hands down."

"I would?" He asked.

She nodded. "He offered to move all of my things to one of his condos when we first came here." She revealed.

"That's what he was doing in your room?" Reed question.

Sue nodded. "Yeah, but I told him that I should stay with Johnny until we got a handle of things."

"So, really, you picked Johnny over Victor." Ben pointed out.

"No, that was just an excuse." Sue explained.

"Oh, thanks." Johnny scoffed.

"He was already annoyed because I was avoiding him about the possible proposal." Sue pointed out. "Can you imagine what would have happened if I'd told him I'd rather stay with my ex-boyfriend, who he hated?"

Ben smirked. "Would have been rather funny. We could'a got it on camera."

Sue shook her head. "Funny for you, yes, but not funny for me, or for Reed."

"I really don't need to get into another fight with Victor." Reed remembered.

"What do you mean 'another'?" Johnny asked.

Sue smiled at the memory. "Reed and Victor came to blows before, back at M.I.T." She said.

"Defending Susie's honour." Ben also remembered.

"Not so much defending my honour as much as childish squabbling." Sue corrected.

Reed looked up from the ice cream sharply in protest. "Sue, he called you a whore!" He reminded her. "I wasn't going to stand by and let him call you that. There was nothing childish about it."

"You meddled with his shampoo and he had grey hair for a week." Sue said.

Ben and Reed both laughed to themselves. "Oh, Good times…" Ben sighed. "…good times…"

Johnny looked confused, not for the first time. "So, Victor called you a whore, but he still wanted you in the sack?"

"'In the sack'?" Ben asked. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

"No, I think that's just what Johnny's calling it these days." Sue rolled her eyes.

"You know, you can mock it all you want, but Victor didn't just want you in the sack." Johnny told her.

"Can we stop talking about Victor's sack, please?" Reed asked, looking really uncomfortable.

"I second that." Sue agreed with a grimace.

"What do you mean, 'not the only one'?" Ben asked curiously.

"Basically, Victor will fuck anything that moves." Johnny explained.

"Johnny!"

"Sorry." He apologized. "Makes love."

Sue looked disgusted. "And you've just managed to degrade me by about fifty thousand points on the scale of social acceptance."

Reed, however, looked rather thoughtful. "You know, I've never thought of it this way, but based on the amount of lab partners that Victor went through…Johnny's right."

Ben gaped. "Johnny's…right…?"

"Tell me you didn't just think that." Sue told him.

"No, seriously, he's right." Reed pointed out. "Victor would…make love…to anything that moves."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Sue mumbled.

"If you're ever standing next to him again…don't move." He told her.

"She wouldn't have to." Johnny pointed out. "Her mere presence seemed to do the trick for him."

Sue cringed. "Okay, you're making me uncomfortable now."

"Me too." Reed agreed.

"Are you sure you guys never…you know…?"

Ben looked at Johnny strangely. "Are you sure you want to hear your sister answer that question?" He asked.

"What? I'm just curious. Did you?"

"No. No, we definitely did not." Sue insisted.

"I'm sensing from your clear discomfort and loathing for the subject that he showed an interest in that aspect of a relationship." Johnny said, trying to sound like a therapist.

"Repeatedly." Sue nodded.

"Why did you turn him down?" He asked. "You were single, after all."

Sue sighed. "Wasn't this whole talking thing about getting me to feel better? Because all of this talking about Victor isn't really making me feel any better about myself."

"I'm not surprised." Reed sympathised.

"Change the subject." Ben announced.

"What? No way, this is good stuff!" Johnny said, having some more ice cream.

"It's also private." Sue pointed out.

"Then just answer that one question and I'll let you change the subject." Johnny pleaded.

Sue sighed. "Fine. What was the question?"

"Why did you turn Victor down when you were one hundred percent single?"

Sue sighed. "Because when he first made his advances I wasn't quite over the fact that me and Reed weren't together anymore, and after a while it just became a habit. That's why. Conversation over." She said quickly.

"You weren't over him yet?" Johnny asked. "How soon did he make his advances?"

"Those are more questions." Sue pointed out. "You were allowed one."

"Can someone else ask?" Johnny questioned.

"Johnny…"

"Reed, you ask her."

"Ask her what?" He asked.

"Ask her how soon Victor started hitting on her after you guys broke up."

Reed shifted uncomfortably. "Do you mind if that's something I try not to think about?"

"Touchy subject?" He teased.

"Shut up, flame brain." Ben warned. "Stop trying to be annoying just so that you can get out of this."

"I'm just trying to make them realise that they're meant to be together." Johnny said innocently.

"Well, you've changed your tune." Ben realised. "An hour ago you wanted her to marry Victor just because he was rich."

"I'm simply taking her shopping complex into consideration." Johnny pointed out.

"So, she buys a few pairs of shoes every now and again. What woman doesn't?" Ben argued back.

Whilst this argument was kicking off, Sue and Reed moved closer together, so that they were sitting side by side with the ice cream. "You know," Reed pointed out after a moment. "If they keep arguing like this, we'll be able to sell the television and rely on them for entertainment."

"Yes, but then they'd have to be in the room all the time." She pointed out.

"If they're in the same room, though, we'll know they're not off in their corners plotting to kill each other."

"And then we'd never have a chance to be alone." Sue spoke aloud.

A moment passed in silence, and even Ben and Johnny stopped arguing. Sue realised that she'd said that last sentence aloud, when she'd meant to just say it in her head, and faded into invisibility.

"Alone?" Reed repeated quietly. "You mean…alone…together?"

"I…uh…"

"What she means is…"

"Johnny, don't you dare!" An invisible Sue warned.

"She misses you."

"I hate you, Johnny."

"You love me." Johnny grinned at her, before looking at Reed. "Look, Reed, for the past two years, she's been a walking zombie. She didn't go out with Victor at first because she wasn't over you, and she wouldn't have married him because she still isn't over you. It doesn't matter how much time passes; she's still going to be in love with you. In fact, you could probably torture a cage of innocent kittens and she's still love you. The reason she wants to be alone with you isn't anything to do with the fact that she hasn't been on a date in two years…"

"…oh, God…"

"…and let's face it, she clearly hasn't had any action considering how cranky she's been…"

"…somebody kill me.."."

"…she misses you for the little things. Apparently little things mean stuff. I don't know, I'm not good with little things, but clearly it has something to do with what you've been doing together recently." Johnny explained.

"Like the weekly food shop." Ben backed him up. "That's very domestic."

"Re-arranging furniture…"

"Making breakfast together…"

"Oh, and the fact that you bring her coffee every morning." Johnny grinned. "That guarantees love from her."

"And that thing you do when you're watching movies?" Ben reminded them. "Where you put your arm around her shoulders and she leans into you…she loves that."

"Excuse me?" Sue asked. "How do you know that?"

"He might not be able to see your smile, Susie, but the rest of us can."

Sue groaned. "God, this is so embarrassing."

"I second that." Reed agreed.

"You know, it wouldn't be embarrassing if it wasn't true." Johnny pointed out.

There was another silence, and Ben turned to Johnny. "You know, that actually made sense."

"Thank you." Johnny smiled. "I've put a lot of thought into this."

"Perhaps you should put as much thought into controlling your powers." Reed frowned at him.

"Perhaps if you put as much thought into this as I have, you'd realise that the reason Sue's so cranky has nothing to do with Victor or PMS…it's because she loves you, and she wants to be with you, but she's too stubborn to admit it to herself."

"I swear to God…I must have killed a being of innocence in a past life to have deserved a brother like you." Sue said bitterly.

"Just say the words, Sue." Johnny coaxed out. "Get it over with."

"I'm not saying something just because you told me to."

Johnny sighed, leaning closer to the pair. "Right, this is how it's going to happen." He told them carefully. "Sue, you're going to look into his eyes, and tell him that you love him. Reed, you're going to say it back, and then you can kiss and make up, and get married, and have hundreds of fantastic babies, and everybody's happy." In the silence, everyone just looked at Johnny like he was insane. "What? I think it's a good idea."

"Don't be silly, Johnny." Sue said quietly, slipping off the bed, past Johnny. She went over to the door, pulling it open. "He wouldn't say it back." She whispered into the silent room before leaving, with the shocked men behind her.

All of them froze. Johnny was staring at the closed door, as was Reed, but Ben was looking directly at Reed, with an almost pitying glance.

"Why...why does she think that?" Reed asked quietly.

Ben watched as Reed's gaze flickered between the door and himself. "She thinks that because she's dropped so many hints that even me and match stick have picked up on it, and you still haven't realised it yet."

"And because you didn't go after her the first time." Johnny added.

Reed's confusion faded, and the complete realisation hit him like a steam train. "She thinks I don't love her because I didn't fight for her."

"Yeah, that pretty much hits the nail on the head." Johnny confirmed.

"I have to go talk to her." Reed said, getting off the bed.

"Again, completely accurate." Ben nodded.

Reed picked up the tub of ice cream and two spoons. "I better take the ice cream." He mumbled to himself.

As the door closed again, this time behind Reed, Johnny turned to Ben. "What is it with those two and ice cream?"

**Don't worry. I will explain the ice cream fascination in the next chapter. It takes Sue and Reed back to a previous date, and has a special forward meaning. Please review! I love reviews as much as I love you all (which is lots!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is the final chapter for Female Intuition. I know it was only a short story, but I thought it was a bit too long (even for me) to be a one shot! I know a lot of you have been questioning the rating. There's nothing racy in it, it's just the fact that Johnny used some rather choice language in the second chapter that I wanted to be careful with, that's all. Reviews make me a happy cookie giver! xxxxxxxx  
And in this chapter, the ice cream fascination gets explained :P**

Reed found Sue sitting on the couch in silence. She was faced away from him, with her head leaned back against the cushions. Even from behind the couch, he could tell that she had her legs drawn up before her, holding them in place with her arms. It was how she sat when she was angry, or upset, and at the moment, he suspected she was both, most likely with him. He stroked her hair softly as he moved around the couch, sitting down beside her, and the gentle brush of his hand alterted her to his attention. For a moment, she looked rather stunned; he had, after all, come after her this time, but she still watched him suspiciously as he handed her a spoon.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, as he held out the ice cream tub.

"What do you _think_ I'm doing here?" He asked her. "It appears we need to talk."

She shrugged. "You know, we don't have to."

"Yes, we do." He nodded firmly, looking into her eyes. "Sue, how could you _ever_ doubt that I loved you?"

She bit her lip, shaking her head as she looked away. Tears formed in her eyes, or perhaps they had already been there, but all Reed knew was that he had caused them. "I walked out of your door, and I waited for ten minutes, Reed. _Ten whole minutes_, just waiting to see if you were going to open the door and come look for me. And when you're standing in a hall, staring at a closed door, knowing that the person you love most in the _entire_ world is on the other side...ten minutes is a _long_ time..." she lifted her head to look at him, tears still brimming in her eyes. "...especially when they don't come through the door."

Reed looked away for a moment, shame building up inside of him, before he spoke. "_Eleven minutes_." He whispered.

"What?" She asked.

"Eleven minutes." He repeated. "That's how long I waited before I came looking for you."

"You...you came looking for me?" She stammered.

He nodded. "I didn't come straight away, because you were upset, and as much as I wanted to make you feel better, I knew you were mad at me. I thought you'd need time to calm down first. So I waited. I gave you ten minutes, and then I had to take an extra minute to work up the courage to come find you. But I couldn't find you. I couldn't find you until I finally stopped looking, and you turned up in Victor's office."

She allowed one of her tears to slip onto her cheek. "You _did_ come looking for me." She realised with a gentle smile.

"Of course, I did." He whispered to her, putting his arm on the back of the couch behind her. "I might have been scared about taking big steps, but that didn't change the fact that I loved you."

She looked away again. "It felt like it did..." She told him. "...Sometimes."

"I'm sorry for that." He told her, and she could see in his eyes that he meant it. "I _really_ am, I just...I was _so_ worried that you'd take those steps with me and then realise that you could do better; and by not taking the steps, I ended up driving you into the arms of the man who could give you anything you ever wanted."

"Well," She pointed out, a smile through her teary eyes. "That's not entirely true."

"It's not?"

She shook his arms. "Well, it wasn't his arms. It was just his office. And he couldn't have given me anything I wanted."

"He took you into space." Reed pointed out. "He gave you a beautiful home, an expensive car, a job that paid more than gold...he took you to the centre of the stars and promised himself to you..."

"There's more to life than a company car and money, Reed." She reminded him. "Besides, it was _your_ proposal that took us to the stars. Your proposal changed so much more than _his_ did."

"_My proposal_..." Reed echoed, his eyes drifting around the room for a moment before settling on her one again. He sighed. "I never really made _my_ proposal."

She looked at him in confusion. "Yes, you did. I was there..."

"My _business_ proposal, yes." He nodded. "But there was _another_ proposal that I never got a chance to make."

She took a sharp intake of breath. "You were going to...?"

He nodded. "On your birthday." He shook his head with a sigh. "I guess it doesn't matter now, but yes, I was going to."

She gave him a strange smile. "You were afraid of moving in together, but not of asking me to marry you?"

"I know." He said, having some ice cream. "It's a complicated fear of commitment."

"Well, I prefer your version of it than Johnny's." She smirked. "I just can't see Mr. Fantastic being a womanising man-whore."

"He doesn't need to." Reed assured her. "He's already got everything that he needs."

She raised an eyebrow, scooping some ice cream onto her spoon. "So, Mr. Fantastic has _everything_?"

He nodded. "He hopes so."

"And, you understand that talking in the third person is rather egotistical of you?"

"Yes, Mr. Fantastic understands that."

She laughed at him lightly, the same beautiful laugh he still had imprinted on his memory from many years ago, as far back as the day they met. They ended their laughter, caught up in each others gaze, a captivating stare that neither of them could escape. Reed toyed with her hair, combing his fingers through her golden locks until his hand was settled on her cheek.

"I'd say it back, Sue." He whispered.

"What?" She asked, her forehead wrinkled.

"You said that I wouldn't say it back." He reminded her. "But if you told me, of course I'd say it back. I've been waiting for the right time to say it, but you need to say it first."

"Why me?" She asked him.

"Because _I'm_ not afraid anymore." He explained. "I haven't got any fears about anything we have done or will do together. But you're still afraid that what happened last time is going to happen again. You're afraid to tell me in case you think I'm going to knock you back. So, you have to conquer the fear in the same way that I did. Just..." He smiled. "...just, try not to take eleven minutes to do it."

She smiled at him lightly, and bit her lip. "Why do I always end up making the first move?" She asked aloud.

But Reed caught her out.

"Ah, that's where you're _wrong_." He pointed out her, pointing down to the space between them. "You see, as I remember from one of our earlier dates, you said that the giving of ice cream counts as making a move."

Sue laughed. "You _remembered_ that?"

He nodded. "I remembered it with the intention of using it against you someday."

She continued laughing, shaking her head at him. "That's kinda evil, Reed."

"No, it's _strategic_." He corrected. "Now, stop changing the subject."

After a moment of stillness, Sue leaned forward. Slowly, at first, they brushed their lips against beach other, before she claimed his fully, placing his lips more firmly against hers. Both of them had butterflies in their stomachs, as they realised that this was their first kiss in two years, but after a few moments, the butterflies of nervousness made way for a warmer feeling of comfort. As they parted, she opened her eyes, looking up at him. "What does _that_ tell you?"

Reed didn't hesitate with his answer. "It tells me that it's been _too_ long since I've kissed you."

This time, when they kissed, Sue's hands travelled to the back of his neck, one of them tangling in the soft hair that rested there. Reed kept one hand on her waist, holding her to him, and brought his other hand up to her hair, finally running it through the golden tresses like he had done many years ago. Somewhere between them, the ice cream lay forgotten, but neither of them could focus on it. Everything they had been through together had lead them to _this_ moment, _this_ place, _this_ time, together, kissing.

At first, their kiss was slow, neither daring to speed it up in case it was brought to an end before due time. They both had many clear memories of kisses they'd shared beneath projected stars and real ones, but it was a collection of pitiful reminders compared to the passion held in this single kiss. As their lips brushed over each other, gently lingering as they pressed together, parting again only to return to their former resting place against each other, a warmth spread through them. Reed's arms moved, holding her more closely to him, and in response, the hands that she had placed at the back of his neck began to stroke his skin gently along the sensitve area where his hairline faded into soft baby-like strands of dark hair.

It was Reed who deepend the kiss, opening his lips further than usual and tracing the edges of hers with his hungry tongue, begging for an entrance into her mouth. She opened her lips with a gentle sigh against his, and all other thoughts were thrown aside when she felt his tongue collide with her own. The sweet comfort that came from each other's touch was all that they needed to continue, and their tongues danced, slowly at first, until Sue released a tiny moan against him, a delightful sound that sent shivers down Reed's spine. Her tiny sound urged him onwards, and he brought her even closer to him, their bodies pressed up against each other as he tried to close all gaps between them. He deepened the kiss even more, delving further past her lips and hearing her already ragged breaths catching in her chest when he found the most sensetive spot that drove her wild. They might not have kissed for a long time, but they could still remember every inch of each other, and knew all the places that worked.

Eventually, the need for oxygen became too much, and they had to part to allow themselves to breathe again. Keeping as close as possible, Reed rested his forehead against hers, his arms never moving from the hold his hand on her. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that Ben and Johnny could walk in at anytime, which would be bad considering the compromising position they had worked themselves into. Sue was all but sitting in his lap, the ice cream forgotten where it had fallen on the ground whilst she knelt with her knees either side of him. He moved his head, and when hers dropped to his shoulder, he leant close to her ear.

"Sue, I'm not going _anywhere_." He assured her in a whisper. "I'm not leaving, and I'm not letting you leave this time either..._this_ time, we're in it for the long haul."

"It's not that." She told him. "I'm not afraid of you leaving. It's just..." She sighed, almost laughing at the idea. "Admitting that my brother is right is hard for me."

Reed let out a breathy laugh. "Then don't think of it as him being right. Thing of it as you doing the right thing for us."

She raised her head from his shoulder, looking into his eyes for the longest of times. "So, if you're in this for the long haul...does this mean...?"

"It means you're definately _not_ sleeping in the spare room anymore, if that's what you're thinking." He confirmed. "I don't think I could sleep without you in my arms tonight."

"Just tonight?" She checked.

"Absolutely not." He grinned. "If it wasn't for the fact that people would get suspicious if we suddenly disappered, I'd never let you leave."

She smiled, placing her lips against his again for a chaste kiss. "And this isn't going to change anything?"

"Only for the better." He assured her.

She kissed him again, letting her lips tease his as he hands trailed down his chest. "How much better?"

"Extremely better." He almost chocked out, forcing himself to pull away from her inviting kisses. "But I'm afraid that if we keep on doing this we're going to have to leave this room."

"What?" She half-laughed.

"If you want to continue what you're doing here, we're going to have to go to a room where Johnny and Ben can't find us." He explained.

"_Oh_!" She realised, laughing fully now.

"Yes, oh."

"That's..._interesting_..." Sue mused.

"Of course, I'm not letting you leave my bedroom until you tell me that you love me." He teased her, proving that he, too, could be the difficult one about this.

She smirked. "That's also interesting because I'm rather stubborn."

Reed went in to kiss her, but when she moved forwards to capture his lips, he moved back a fraction. "We'll see about that."

----

Hours later, Johnny and Ben were in the kitchen. Complete silence hung over them, and Johnny, for one, appeared rather traumatised.

"_Well_." Ben spoke after a long silence. "She told him that she loved him, finally."

"If she'd screamed it any louder the whole city might have heard it." Johnny murmered, still looking as if he'd seen a ghost.

"At least we were right." Ben shrugged.

"Yeah." Johnny agreed.

A moment later, Sue waltzed into the kitchen, smiling broadly and wearing Reed's navy bathrobe.

"Hey guys, you hungry?" She asked.

"Yeah, what's for dinner?" Johnny asked her, actually taking a few steps back from her.

"Whatever you guys order in." She announced, clearly against cooking that evening. "There's ten bucks in my purse, put that towards it. Reed and I are in his room, so come get us when the foods here."

She left without another word, and Johnny looked at Ben, glaring intently at him when Ben held up his hands. "Don't look at me." Johnny told him. "_No way_ am I going _near_ that room. I don't care _how_ much they love each other."

FIN


End file.
